Journal Entry #4

July 23rd 10:30pm

I sit here tonight in my hotel room having just watched the final game of the China/Korea match on TV. Korea ended up winning the match 3-2 with a 15-13 final game score. We were at opening ceremonies tonight and stayed to watch the 1^st game of the match, but headed back after that.

Obviously the tournament began today and there have already been quite a few exciting matches. I know you’re dieing to hear how we did, but you’re just going to have to wait. I want to catch you up to speed on the rest of the tournament thus far. We watched the match between Belarus and Russia and Russia ended up pulling out the upset in 5 games. After that, Brazil made a quick 3-0 match out of Puerto Rico. Finally, prior to our match, Italy played Chinese-Taipei and won in 3 as well. Italy, Chinese-Taipei and Tunisia are all in our pool.

Here is a break-down of the tournament by current ranking in pools.

Pool A

Egypt 1-0 (Egypt beat Macau 3-0)

Croatia 1-0 (Croatia beat Argentina 1-3)

Argentina 0-1

Macau, China 0-1

Pool B

Korea 1-0

Austria 1-0 (Austria beat Ukraine3-2)

Ukraine 0-1

China 0-1

Pool C

Brazil 1-0

Belarus 1-0

Russia 0-1

Puerto Rico 0-1

Pool D

USA 1-0 (Beat Tunisia 3-0…I’ll get into more of the match in a bit)

Italy 1-0 (Beat Chinese Taipei 3-0)

Chinese Taipei 0-1

Tunisia 0-1

Ok, let me tell you the details of our first match at this year’s World Championships. First off, we finally got a chance to showcase our awesome new uniforms. Hopefully we’ll have some pictures on the USA Volleyball web site sometime soon so you can see exactly what I mean. So far, they are the best ones at the tournament. Sounds like a very small detail, but it’s important.

Before the match, we were a little quiet, but clearly excited to finally play another team. We opened up the match starting Rachel Holloway (S), Alix Klineman (OH), Kori Cooper (MH), Megan Hodge (OH), Lauren Williams (MH) and Kim Kuzma (L). Although our nerves clearly were playing a role in our ability to execute plays the way we wanted to, we ended up winning the first game of the match with a score of 25-12. Tunisia couldn’t handle our height and strength lead by Alix Klineman, who racked up 4 kills in the first game.

Moving into the second game, we stuck with the same line-up and it proved to be the right choice. We went on to win the second game with a score of 25-15. We were lead once again by Klineman who tallied 6 kills during this game.

Going into the third game Taylor Carico got her chance to run our offense. Showcasing what she can do, we ended the match with a final game score of 25-13. Alix Klineman lead Team USA with 16 kills on the match and an overall hitting percentage of .667%. She also leads the entire tournament in hitting percentage. Not too bad for being 15 years old!

With one match win under out belt, we can’t help but look ahead to what who we will match up with tomorrow. We are set to play Chinese Taipei tomorrow at 6pm. They look to be an even stronger opponent because of their defensive strength. We are hoping

to be 2-0 after tomorrow.

On another note, I wanted to share a few things that I’ve learned since I came here to China.

-Although Portuguese and Chinese are the official languages of Macau, most people here speak Cantonese.

-A typhoon is the same thing as a hurricane (most of the time with lower velocity winds), except it spins in the opposite direction because it is north of the equator.

-Macau is actually a peninsula connected to two other islands, Taipei and Coloane by bridges

-Everyone here drives on the left side of the road (making crossing the road very interesting)

That’s all for now. I look forward to another positive update again tomorrow!